Fort Stevenson Memorial Day Weekend - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Rainy Start to Park's Summer Season

Despite the rain, Memorial Day weekend marks the opening of a number of tourism attractions in North Dakota.
That includes Fort Stevenson State Park near Garrison where they kicked off the summer fun with the annual Sky Dance Sakakawea kite flying event.

The sky was filled kites of varying sizes and colors.
Kites on the ground also decorated the park.
And children learned how to make kites themselves.
This year marks the 20th annual kite festival that was started by Deb Lenzen.
She started the event as a way for families to spend time doing what some may consider a lost art.

(Deb Lenzen, Event Coordinator) "I really like how parents are spending time with kids and it is a family event. Most moms and dads get to tell their kids 'oh I used to fly kite when I was your age' and I think it is really a nice opportunity for families."

This is Lenzen's last party on the prairie as she will be handing over her duties as event coordinator to Rena Rustad.
Rustad started her journey with kites when she attended the event years ago with her son.
Now Rustad along with her sister will embark on a new journey.

(Rena Rustad, Owner, Prairie Wind Kites) "The park really feels that this is a special time for families and people to come out for the first weekend of the summer and I didn't want to see it go away."

The event will continue tomorrow and Monday from 11 am to 4 pm.